Lizel, Neith and Stella were currently at a café together. Ever since their second year of high school started, as well as the Devil King War, they hadn't had much time to spend together, so this was a nice chance to catch up.

But there was another layer below these friends meeting up. After all, 2 of them were Devil King Candidates, and the other one was Lovers' Queen Card. In a way, this was also part of the Devil King War.

"I didn't know Yuuto-kun was going through all that…"

"Really. I can count on one hand's fingers how many people I know that would be willing to help their subordinates that much. Guess Yuuto really is a nice guy."

Of course, during their catching up, the topic of what had been happening recently came up. Lizel took this opportunity to explain to her friends about the recent events that were taking place in Lovers group, those being the fight with Ibiza and Reina's problem.

Lizel did take some creative liberty with her retelling, in an attempt to protect Reina's real identity as a homunculus and make Yuuto seem even cooler, but the core of the story was still real.

As Stella had said, it was very rare for a master to really care about their subordinates. In cases like what happened to Miyabi and Reina, it wouldn't at all be uncommon for them to simply be cut off so they didn't trouble their master, in this case Yuuto. From a devil's point of view, Yuuto helping them was as surprising as if a UFO suddenly showed up.

"Hmm, Yuuto's really great. That's why he'll be a great Devil King."

"… I think I'd like to see it, Yuuto-kun as Devil King…"

"Hey, did you both forget about me? Daydream all you want, but I'm not giving up just yet. But I will admit it would probably be interesting."

Lizel did come here to talk and catch up with her friends, but she also had a secondary objective. That was to recruit Neith and Stella for Yuuto's alliance, though Yuuto himself didn't know that was a thing yet.

Death's Group was no longer just a rumor. It would be fine if they only fought with the Triumph Candidates, but if Yuuto was attacked again, it would be nice to have their own allies. Of course, it would also be good if Yuuto had more Cards, which is also something Lizel is working on. She's currently asking for Miyabi's help in testing Maki and Rebecca.

Coincidently, Stella had similar thoughts. She didn't think she'd need the help, but it would be nice to make sure her friends were fine. As for Neith, she was likely the purest one here, simply wanting to talk with her friends and help them if she could.

From what Lizel knew of her friends, she guessed that Neith was basically already sold. From how she looks like she wished she could have helped more with the incidents she just heard about, Lizel was sure that Neith would be willing to help them if they asked her.

Stella was a more troublesome matter, but at least it didn't seem like she was going to be their enemy. The only way Lizel could imagine Stella agreeing to team up would be if she was in an especially vulnerable moment, but Lizel couldn't imagine any such situation. So for now this would be enough.

"But my favorite part in all that was how Yuuto punished you, Lizel. I never thought I'd see the day the mighty Lizel would lower her head for a human. You really have changed since we were kids."

"Lizel was scary back then…"

"Uhhg."

Somehow, it felt like Lizel had been punched in the stomach. Save for Reina being a homunculus, Lizel tried to not hide anything from Neith and Stella, and that included the punishment Yuuto gave her for deceiving both him and Aspite. She figured that would make them see Yuuto more as a possible Devil King, though it did come at the cost of her own reputation.

"Did you apologize properly like you were told to?"

"… I send Aspite a text message."

Lizel understood the problem of what she did, but she still didn't regret it. After all, it was for Yuuto. That's also why she's here now.

"Stop teasing Lizel…"

"Sorry sorry. Oh, almost forgot, I met that blind girl recently, Swordia. She was Moon's Card back then, but I don't know where she is now."

"Ah, she's Justice's Card now. Reina, hum… happened to meet her a few days ago."

Stella unintentionally reminded Lizel of Yuuto's kidnapping incident. Lizel felt her stomach turning all over itself. Despite not letting it show, Lizel had been really worried for Yuuto.

Miyabi and Reina were strong, and Lizel was sure they'd fight to their dying breath to save Yuuto if they had to, but it would have been helpless against 2 Devil King Candidates. No, even against just Strength alone it would have been a hard fight.

One might think that it would be at least slightly better if Lizel simply fought along with them, but that wasn't possible. Because Lizel…

"Justice hmm… Oh well. It looked like she wanted to fight the Knight girl, so you all better prepare to fight Justice's team. And Strength as well I suppose."

"T-two on one is unfair… I'll help."

"Mm, thanks, Neith."

Well, after what Yuuto told Lizel, it didn't seem likely that they'd have to fight them, but Lizel decided to keep that to herself. After all, Neith just straight up said she'd help them.

But this topic brought Moon back to Lizel's mind, and consequently Sun and their fight with Stella. This seemed like as good an opportunity as any to ask about that.

"Say, Stella, I heard about your fight with Sun and Moon a while back. What did you do to get on their nerves?"

"I didn't do anything! It's just a bunch of crazy coincidences! How am I at fault for that?"

"Would someone really try to kill someone else just over a bunch of coincidences?"

"How should I know? But the worst part is that I'm pretty sure Summers is going to try and fight me again. I wish she'd just stay mourning her boyfriend and decide to drop out peacefully."

Stella had no way to know at the time, but she was absolutely right. There would still be another fight between Star and Sun.

The rest of Lizel, Neith and Stella's meeting continued as just a normal conversation. While Stella was being pretty successful in her objective to get allies, someone else wasn't being as lucky.


Balance Mizusawa, Temperance's Candidate, was not wearing his usual butler-like clothes today. Rather, he was wearing some swimming trunks and a loose shirt.

That's because he's currently at a private beach, courtesy of Summers, Sun's Candidate. Being on the beach enjoying the wind and getting a tan was one of her favorite pastimes, and today she invited Balance to come with her.

Although he didn't understand her true objective, Balance decided to go along with Summers. So long as he was careful, she shouldn't present much danger to him.

"Hmmm~ the sun on my skin feels so good~"

"Indeed. But please be careful to not get sunburned."

Obviously, being on the beach, Summers was wearing a swimsuit, a bikini to be more specific. However, the one she chose to wear was very troubling for Balance, because it covered very little. Even the strings were hard to see, giving it a very erotic feel.

She said that it was so that there weren't a lot of tan lines on her, but Balance had his doubts. Could she be trying to defeat him? But could she even know about his Arcana's weakness?

Temperance Arcana's weakness was that it required the user to balance their actions. Unlike the other Arcanas, they couldn't simply use their powers as they pleased, otherwise it would turn against them. Balance found that annoying. Devils are supposed to be selfish creatures, yet he had to count even the calories he ate, but it's not like he can ask to change his Arcana.

Since it couldn't be helped, Balance would live with that limitation for now. But he swore to himself that if he became Devil King he'd never again resist any desire.

As for Summers, her objective with inviting Balance was simple. She wanted to see if he could substitute Lunatic. Summers hadn't given up on her fight against Stella, but she knew she needed help, or rather, a new boyfriend. And who better than a boy from Death's Group?

That meant that Summers' new boyfriend candidates were Balance, Marios and Lost himself. Marios had always seemed weak, and recently he's been looking strange, so Summers decided to skip him. Lost seemed like a good bet, but Summers' instincts told her to keep away from him. That's how she ended up here with Balance.

Yet, for reasons unknown to her, Balance was proving himself really hard to seduce. She was honestly starting to think he might be gay, so she decided to pull out the big guns. So long as he was into women, this should put him in Summers' palm.

"Would you mind helping me put some sunscreen on?"

Summers asked Balance, as she started untying her bikini, both top and bottom. She made sure to not show too much, since it should make him more excited that way, but she was still basically naked in front of him.

Summers was a beautiful young woman, no man should be able to resist her. It really took all Balance had to not pull down his pants and simply accept whatever came after.

The only reason why he didn't do that is because he saw an opportunity. If he services someone, it's only fair he also receives service to keep things balanced. So if he were to help her with sunscreen, and maybe even massage her a bit, then he would be able to enjoy a few benefits without worrying about losing his power.

"Yes, allow me to help."

Balance put some sunscreen on his hands and started spreading it on Summers' back. Ever since getting Temperance's Arcana, Balance had been getting better at serving people, despite having never done so before.

"O-oh~ you're actually good."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it."

Balance made sure to not just spread the sunscreen, but also to give Summers a good massage. He couldn't make this an erotic massage, otherwise he'd also enjoy it, which would already balance the service he was giving, and that wasn't his intention.

Once he was done, Summers turned around so Balance could do her front. She expected him to basically jump her, yet Balance somehow managed to hold back. But she could see he was clearly interested.

"Why are you holding back? You do get what I'm getting at, don't you?"

"Obviously! But this damn Arcana-! I mean… I apologize. I believe it's best for us to take things slowly-"

Balance was trying to justify himself, but Summers didn't miss his little outburst. He blamed the Arcana, so Summers got to thinking.

"No way your power requires you to hold back your desires, right? I heard Temperance was a shitty Arcana, but I didn't think it was that much…"

"So you do know! You're really trying to make me give into temptation!"

"Shut up! As if I care about you. With my luck, you'd be useless against Stella anyway, so all I did was waste my time. Shit, I'll have to go looking for someone else."

Summers grabbed her clothes and put them back on. Ignoring Balance, she simply left. As she walked off, Balance's blood rushed to his head. He was mad.

Should he attack and defeat her now? Then he could have his way without worries…

But she had been the one to invite him, so there was a big chance she'd prepared for the case of an attack.

"Fuck!"

As much as he hated it, Balance had to let Summers go. He reminded himself that, for his power, temperance was key. He'd accept defeat for now, so he could claim victory later.